Eshu is one of the main deities of the Yoruba tradition from Nigeria. He is a trickster who often pairs perspectives that are opposed but are also right from each party's vantage point. Although sometimes a difficult process, the hope is to lead his pupils to emotional maturity and compassion. The image Eshu appeared to me in a dream dancing and playing reggae guitar in my backyard with a haunting female vocal in the background. He came as an african man dressed in all white with a confident jovial attitude. The rock section came to me in subsequent dream where I was in a studio looking at the monitor with some friends while working on the song. The jungle percussion beat with the rock riff emerged there and I was told that's what the song needed to get people moving. After scrambling for my guitar and scribbling in my journal when I woke up, I was able to recreate what I heard in these dreams as best I could with “Eshu Amania”.

I've been recording and mixing for Angelo Moore of Fishbone for his Dr. Madd Vibe solo album. One day he came by the studio with a car load of percussion to put down on one of his tracks and then left it all here while he went on tour. I must thank him for providing that spontaneous stroke of serendipity. I proceeded to lay down multiple percussion tracks and each one sounded better on top of the next. The rhythm section is thick and the percussion section overlays the drumset nicely which definitely may start some spontaneous hip shaking. My dear friend and long time Speed Of Life contributer Tobias Ralph (Tricky, Lauren Hill) layed down some serious drum grooves while in LA this January. He did 5 great takes which I was really able to utilize in the remix. Thank You Tobias! Jamaican born Balfour Tomlinson has reggae in his dna, and hits the pocket just right on the bass. Angelina Narvaez's haunting east Indian style vocals bring the dream to life...

Soon after the male friend of the two told me he was bringing his new wife to Spain for a honeymoon and surprising her by having their closest friends on hand for a proper ceremony. He then asked me to officiate the wedding. Okay....I thought. But how would I get to Europe in just over a month, I can't afford that or take time off from my busy life. I quickly remembered one of my first basic lessons, using I Can't and I Can in my speech. Such a simple concept that's so overlooked. Upon further meditation not only did I set my mind to it I intended on turning my trek over a continent and a sea into a musical adventure as well. I took a chance on the unknown.

And she came like a seductress in the midst of the darkness, presenting her gifts in ways I couldn't quite perceive until they arrived in my arms. I wrote an email to a musician friend in Germany and asked if he could line up some gigs. I told him I was coming although I didn't have a ticket yet. He submitted my stuff around and not only got some shows, but a television appearance and assembled a band to play with. Okay, taking it in. Then while in NY visiting family another gift emerged. When speaking to a cousin about my plans for Europe she told me she could help get me over there through a close friends buddy pass. Wow, 2 gigs, a television appearance and a ticket for next to nothing. . Consciousness co-creating in ways unknown??

So one last thing, some funding. After talking to a friend he suggested meditating on Divine Right Employment. And thats what I did just before a phone call came through for a great paying music composition gig right up my alley. It was from a producer I haven't worked with in over a year. Musical tastes were in synch and I was able to fund this entire trip by doing some work in the last few weeks before it. Now I don't want to seem like an “optimist” but if this is what 'dancing with the unknown' is like then let Her seduce me.

Now I already knew this, it's happened to me many times traveling but I couldn't always see it in my day to day life. And in the future I'm sure it may not be such smooth sailing but I'll still follow the flow, create the vision and swim with the energy. The unknown, a place many of us run from constantly, through every avoidance technique imaginable. Or who knows, it could just expose us outside of our box where our real authenticity may actually lie. What if we actually saw it as a place where the best things come out of, where everything comes out of for that matter, and that is there to love and support our vision? I mean after all it got me to Spain so I could officiate my best friends wedding. No way I was missing that again!